IUG: ‘The Heart of Lightness, a Smile in a Shining Mask
The graduation party had risen, “like a phoenix”, from the ashes of the Pandemic.
Graduation party is what crowns hardworking and dedication of the four-year quest the students pursue. Students wait for the graduation ceremony to laud their fine achievement with their families, friends, classmates, and their teachers. Graduation seems to be the end of the journey; this end is just the beginning of the real life, however. What would happen if graduation party is no more?
After the alarming rate of coronavirus cases, decisions were affirmed, declaring a state of emergency in Palestine. Likewise, Gaza-based the Islamic University of Gaza has announced the disruption of education, exactly on Thursday, 5th March, 2020.
Education, however, only stopped for two weeks no longer did the university start the e-learning system. Statics back then were sadly increasing, and we, all, got lockdown in our own houses. As they say “crisis teaches us more than comfort actually does”. As a Palestinian lockdown in Gaza, the situation is way different than any other place in the whole world because being at home just reminds us with all the troubles we are going through: blockade, electricity outage, psychological status, internet service problems, and many other difficulties.
It is harder because before Corona, most people go out most of the day as an act of resistance and coping with the situation. For me as a college student, I used to go out at 8 a.m., and come back mostly at 6 p.m., for I go to different places in the same day, following electricity, funny ha! In the last semester, I just could not; I was stuck all day at home and had to wait the electricity 12 hours, so I could start working on my assignments and watching the lectures I missed. I hated being a senior student. In normal cases, senior student faces high pressure and a lot of work: preparing for project graduation, trainings, and sometimes even working. The case, however, was way even worse because of the pandemic along with Gaza’s daily-life difficulties.
Wait! This is not it. It is said that “when it rains, it pours!” This is what actually happens in the case of the graduates of the class 2020. Because we have been informed that we are not going to have a graduation ceremony. Just imagine the precious moment you were waiting for four years, so you can celebrate it with the people you love is gone. It is heart-wrenching.
Graduation ceremony functions as a bridge from the studying life into the wilderness of labor market. In our case, it is totally different, for Gaza is full of mass youth unemployment, which makes the graduation ceremony something more like a ‘stress relief’ for what passed and for what is coming.
Until now, no one can tell when the crisis of the pandemic will come to an end. It is true that in some states in the world have come back to normal life but with extreme caution. In Gaza, I could say we are back to a semi-normal life, taking precautionary procedures into consideration. Fortunately however, our university, the Islamic University of Gaza, has took the momentous decision that there is going to be a graduation ceremony but under some precautionary restrictions.
We always find a way out. It was hard—even impossible—two months ago, but now it is real, and we, the graduates of the class 2020, are very grateful for our University for bringing graduation ceremony back to life. It was literally a nightmare just thinking of the graduating without a ceremony. The silver lining is that; I believe that “Hard times are sometimes blessings in disguise”. Among all these obstacles, we fought and managed to continue the educational quest, and also we managed to benefit and take exams. Our professors in IUG—the fighters who no matter what kept the journey going on—deserve the best.
This year will stain itself on the walls of history; people will remember the 2020 for being the year of crisis. Not only that, people will remember the achievements among such crisis even more. Personally, this year has shaped and will shape my personality for good. It was psychologically, spiritually, and even economically devastating to all of us. Yet, we fought back; we survived.
Keep clam and celebrate with us our revolutionary party.
By Khalid Dader, a graduate from the English Department.
